After letting years slip by without telling each other how they felt, a couple was determined to finally be together. And not even cancer could stop them.
After letting decades slip by without telling each other how they felt, a British couple was determined to not let anything get in the way of finally being together. Not even cancer.
When Joan and Craig Lyons met when they were 14, it was “love at first sight,” the adoring Liverpool husband told CBS News.
But it would be nearly 30 years, and for Joan, one marriage later, before Craig would propose, finally popping the question while the pair was in a McDonald’s.
“That is how we are,” Joan told the news site. “That is our little heaven enjoying the simple things, as long as we’re together.”
It was after that special moment that the couple was hit with another hurdle.
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Craig found out in August 2015 that he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He was given 9 to 12 months to live.
“We decided to do all the things we wanted to do but never did,” Joan said.
That included getting married.
On April 15 Joan and Craig were wed in an emotional ceremony. They celebrated at a reception, where the bride’s an act of love and selflessness left guests stunned.
Joan left the reception to wash and dry her hair and returned with a razor, ready to shave her head in tribute to her terminally ill husband.
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Photographer Kimberley Struth, who connected with the couple through the “Gift of a Wedding" Charity, captured the moment on camera.
"We knew prior to it happening but actually seeing it was so powerful,” Struth told InsideEdition.com.
She snapped away as Joan braided sections of her hair before cutting it off, as the bride planned to give it to the Little Princess charity, which uses donated hair to create wigs.
"She just wanted to help as many people as possible," said Struth, who photographed the day free of charge.
“She was amazing. Everyone was telling her she didn't have to go through with it but she was like, 'I don't care.' She was smiling. She was winking and waving through it."
Though Craig was aware that Joan was going to cut her hair, the husband was still left in awe.
“I think a lot of people expected there to be tears but it was actually quite an uplifting experience to see how in love they are," Struth said.
Watch: Paralyzed Groom Cries When He Stands to Dance With Bride at Wedding
